Description:Perhaps some of the most impressive scenery in all the Canary Islands is that of the northwest cliffs of Gran Canaria. Rising in places to over 1000 metres above the ocean below, these cliffs were formed by the gravitational collapse and subsequent erosion of the north western part of the original basaltic shield volcano that formed the island of Gran Canaria between 14.5 and 14.1 million years ago. The top part of these mountains are capped by various layers of silicic ignimbrites emitted from the post shield stage Caldera de Tejeda. This image looks to the south west from close to the town of Agaete. The entire coastline is known as the northwest cliffs and in the far distance is the Anden Verde.